This is more of a racetrack classic, because I shot it at the Waterford Hills Road Racing course in Michigan. All resplendent in lavender and black, I had only seen the likes of this little sedan in pictures. Immediately, I got to feeling all funny inside; I love BMC classics from the 60s, and just the thought of their little rosette badge makes me want to move to England. With cars like this Austin Cambridge around, I guess I don’t have to.

I need a Morris Minor, right now.

OK, like I said, the rosette makes me patriotic for a country I have visited only once. A Morris Minor is on my list of 30 cars I probably should own at some point. The Austin Cambridge, however, has never made the list, probably due to a complete lack of availability. But the image of this boxy, finned, apparently Pininfarina-designed road warrior could almost change my mind.

Left-hand drive? What?

This A55 is apparently in the 1959-61 range. I briefly talked to the owner, but have forgotten the exact year. He drove this tall little sedan out on the track for the Touring Session, and it wallowed around like the Queen Mary, but I was instantly jealous. There’s just nothing more absurd than railing this “Earl Grey on Wheels” through an off-camber turn hard enough to make the tires squeal. My kind of guy. Left hand drive versions have to be almost as rare as a true Bigfoot sighting, and they probably smell better, too.

Queen Elizabeth shrunk my family sedan!

Even though they seemed to look a little bigger in the illustrated advertisements, I like the styling on these Austins. They’re crisp, kind of American, and certainly unique. Though all time periods have their problems, this car just reeks of optimistic feelings to me. Nobody offers a lavender and black car today; people would think that was pure lunacy! But around 1960…no worries! This model does have a floor shifter and bucket seats, so it’s sporty enough, and my research says it is pushed around by the ubiquitous B-series Austin engine that powered so many MGs of the day, so it’s pretty rugged.

Did you lock the keys in? (Photo courtesy mclellansautomotive.com)

I think the real magic about this car is that you won’t see yourself on every street corner in America, or any street corner for that matter. The fact that this quaint little piece of Mother England is still out prowling the streets is just plain fun. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to find the “shooting brake” version. I’d be blissfully insane for a week.

Now I’m just getting a little too excited.

Despite being somewhat of an Anglophile, my car collection consists of 50s and 60s American classics and oddities. I have a strong suspicion, however, that one of these days, a product that proudly displays the rosette will find its way to my driveway. Until that day, I’ll giggle like an idiot when I observe a strange one in my travels.

46 Comments

2 tidy MGAs next to it and then an early Spitfire. I’ll propose you for citizenship…..

Yes, you’re right – Pininfarina styling, 59 to 61 model, 1500cc B series, four on the floor. Also available as a Morris, Riley, Wolseley and MG, in varying states of tune.

The styling was toned down in 1961 but it was a very dated product by the time the Cortina Mk 2 came in 1966. The last ones were built around 1971, finally succeeded by the Marina, after the Landcrab and Maxi couldn’t kill it off.

Well, I can’t offer an Austin A55 Countryman.. but how about (badge-engineering ahoy!) this Morris Oxford Traveller? This is a Series VI, probably built 1961-63, in a nicely patinaed condition, snapped by me just a few miles from this spot, last summer. Very much a daily driver.

Both were built and sold simultaneously along with Riley, Wolseley, and MG versions the latter fitted with different camshaft and twin carbs, the later cars got different tail lights and a bigger engine prefixed A60 model, there was also a diesel engined version.

And here’s the splendid rear view. The rear screen wiper is an after-market add-on, as of course is the towbar. I love the shape of the petrol cap cover, as well as those finny lights.
Still in production in the early 1970s, but I’ve said plenty about BMC/BLMC on the Allaggro thread earlier today. Another car that Ford blew out of the water, despite the saloon coming in Austin, Morris, Riley, Wolseley and MG variants.

What was so well expressed in the Florida II and Cadillac Starlight ended up as this. Then there’s the Nash stuff. And don’t get me started on the Superfast and Superamericas. Sometimes I have to take Pininfarina off its supreme Lusso/Maremma pedestal and get real.

I love this car. These old English cars with American-inspired styling are so, er… cute. No disrespect intended, it’s just that I was born in the land of Longer! Lower! Wider! and these little cars designed for England’s narrow roads look like cute little miniatures.

Wow what an excellent find! I’ve never seen a BMC Farina in person and I wish I had gotten to see this one flying around a track!! I wasn’t even really sure if the A55 was ever sold in the US, but I guess this means they were. As cool as I think this is, I can’t imagine someone going through the trouble of importing one from the European mainland. How similar are these to an MGB underneath? I bet it’s a hell of a lot of fun to drive. Love the soooo late-50s paint scheme too.

The A55 and A60 were imported through 1964, although sales were probably quite modest towards the end. Austin was once the #1 selling import brand in the US, until VW stole that away in 1955 or so.

How similar to an MGB? Certainly the basic drive train, and quite possibly the front suspension, brakes, etc. Someone else may pipe in on the exact specifics. Roughly speaking, the MGs were to these cars what the C1 Corvette was to a Chevy sedan.

A lot of similarities under the skin (I’ll have to check dimensions and full details elsewhere later) but crucially the MGB always had the twin carb 1.8 litre B series, not the 1.6, and that never made it to the Farina range (which what they’re known as in the UK).

You’re not half right Paul, although having owned a ’59 in red and light gray like in the ad above, I’d say the experience is much more like an early ’60s Rambler Classic or Moskvitch than a Chevy.

These cars looked identical to a Peugeot 404, but to drive were chalk and cheese. The ‘Farinas’ used lever arm shocks and early ones had no roll bars and ridiculously low gearing, making curves dangerous and 55mph on the motorway feel like something was going to burn up.

The Farinas also were the prototype for the A-body GM cars- and were probably the first use of the phrase ‘badge engineering’ with a mildly and in the case of the MG and Riley cynically restyled version for every dealer and price range.

All that said, they were very roomy for their footprint, had a massive boot with a low liftover, and have a massively over-engineered bodyshell, feeling far more sturdy and tank-like than the rather tinny Consul or Victor. With aftermarket telescopic shocks, roll bars and an MGB engine/gearbox/ rear end, most of their design deficiencies can be overcome.

The A55 was designed before motorways hence the low gearing same as my 59 Minx sustained speeds of 60/70mph were not envisaged. The later A60 adressed these issues with more power and taller axle ratios and an A60 will cruise at 65 mine did as does my minx with a 65 model diff head.
Another point nobody has mentioned these cars were not sold at the same showroom each brand had its own dealer like Rootes a Hillman agent might sell Commer trucks like my local Hillman agent but they wouldnt sell Sunbeams or Humbers they had their own respective agencies.

The great thing back then was each and every country’s own interpretation of this Pininfarina body style, for the Italians FIAT’s 1800 – 2300 range was a real upmarket and big car,, in Spanish SEAT livery it was of essence to the public transport world as Spain’s taxi cab, with a smaller (1400?) engine.
For Lancia it was the upmarket stylish Flamminia.saloon
For the Brits I guess it was good middle class and conservative upper middle class in Wolseley and Riley livery.
Then the French came in and called it 404, more Industrial and sober design, more existencialism and rather snobless, any European medical doctor, lawyer or Taxi driver had them , coz they were a sign of conservative but good taste.
The BMC livery cars had many nice old fashioned things built in them, like wooden dahses and real leather upholstery.
But the Peugeot was the most technically advanced car of the whole bunch.

Another car from my youth,these were everywhere when I was a kid in 60s Britain.I’m sure there was at least one on every street,usually the Austin or Morris,the MG,Riley and Wolsley were not as common,probably due to price.I can remember at least 6 of my teachers driving these cars.If BL had developed these instead of the Land Crab would it have been a different story?They looked very dated by the late 60s when put next to a Ford Cortina Mk2 or Corsair,Vauxhall Victor FD and the Hillman Hunter and it’s badge engineered relations
Sadly the rush to FWD with cash strapped R & D resulted in hastily developed cars with big problems.Throw in poor quality control and a strike prone workforce and BL was soon in trouble.Cash bale outs by the government were quickly condemned by the right wing press and when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister BL was a dead man walking. .

Um… if no one really wanted Issigonis’s cars, I’m not sure how the 1100/1300 got to be the best-selling car in the UK for eight straight years…

Aside from pricing, and build quality, and all that BMC/BL stuff, the Mini and 1100 were quite brilliant cars. In terms of design, things only started to go badly wrong with the Landcrab – and with the company’s consistent failure to build on innovation, and give customers what they really wanted (eg hatchbacks).

One mark of the Landcrab’s failure, btw, was that it should have replaced the A55/A60 described here, but instead both models ran side-by-side (sporting a panoply of different arcane brand names) for SIX whole years.

You’re right that Issigonis’s cars were a factor in BMC’s issues and ultimate failure but largely that was more down to BMC’s appalling (and complete lack of) product planning than the actual design. Issgonis was allowed to design a car as big as the Landcrab and did so; someone should have said “Not that big” to him. Likewise, the Maxi was too governed by financial constraints to meet real market needs, the 3 litre a complete waste of money and engineering resources whilst the Mini and ADO16 were starved of development investment because they were selling too well.

BMC’s quality issues didn’t help either, of course, but my key point is that they weren’t bad cars but the wrong cars. And that comes from the top

You missed the Tasman Kimberly twins the Aussie branch consistently lost money on ill conceived cars those were no good from new and led to the P76 styled by the work experience kid all these were a constant vacuum on the company finances even if though Leyland OZ produced such gems like the Nomad 1500 liftback which was inflated into the Maxi that was too big for the powertrain,
Issigonis best creation was the Morris Minor he got that one right.

Philip

Posted December 31, 2013 at 3:45 AM

Roger is spot-on here, and Bryce’s response underlines another BMC failing (that carried on in a sort of unmanaged drift after BLMC was formed): home market complacency and poor product planning at the same time as believing they were still a contender in the former Empire outposts. (Including the US!)
Having a half-cocked line-up in the UK, and then trying to develop parallel half-cocked line ups for countries that some members of the board would struggle to find on a map, just compounded their problems.

And just for Gem as she has a facination for oddball OZZY 6s Leyland Australia built a 6 cylinder version the Austin Freeway the first versions had issues but they finally got it right just as the customers had given up the engine was cobbled up from the B series 4 and were actually OK, probably the peak of Leyland Australia next came the 1500 Nomad and the P76 and Marina so it was a downhill slide from the freeway

Ah, a car that was plentiful in my younger years but is decidedly less so now. Still see the odd sedan around, but I haven’t seen a (mobile) wagon in a year or three. As always, NZ followed Mother England during the 60s, so we had the myriad badge-engineered versions of the Cambridge too, and examples pop up for sale online most months. I like the styling, although would prefer the larger similar-looking A99 or A110.

Cool. But I’m holding out for the Wolseley 6/110 Mk II – there are a few sharp ones that do the show rounds in these parts. I’ve never driven one and don’t expect the actual experience is a major part of their charm. Westminster twin (the one without the painted dash) also welcome here. There’s also black over gold Vanden Plas 4 Litre Princess about that looks beautiful amid the anonymous grey/black/white blobs. Who cares about sub par engineering anyway?